Payments for ecosystem services or collective stewardship of Mother Earth? Applying deliberative valuation in an indigenous community in Colombia

Abstract

The literature on payments for ecosystem services (PES) applied in regions where indigenous peoples are key social actors has not cast much light on their preferences regarding the framing and design features that such economic incentives should have to ensure their effectiveness. Thus, it is key to find appropriate approaches that can be used to elicit the preferences of indigenous peoples regarding PES design. Here we provide new insights regarding the use of deliberative valuation to elicit of the preferences of an indigenous community from Colombia towards the design of a PES program. A deliberative choice experiment is applied that sheds light on why indigenous people’s perspectives need to be taken into account if PES are to be effective and fair. We find that participants from the indigenous community value highly equity considerations that go beyond the monetary benefit that PES provide, such as being able to meaningfully participate in the design of PES or deciding the fairest way to distribute payments.